Tom Castillo never had to sit out. He never had to stop
umpiring, and he never had to stop playing.
By Andrew Matheson Sports Editor
Hollister – Tom Castillo never had to sit out. He never had to stop umpiring, and he never had to stop playing.
It was a seamless transition.
Four years ago, budget cuts forced the city to eliminate fall softball and summer basketball, relying on committed volunteers to pick up the respective leagues where the city had left off.
Castillo, a Hollister resident, took over the coed softball league from the city with co-director Darrell Clayton, but was concerned that with the amount of work and time needed in running a league – he’d need to stop playing the game he’s played since he was seven years old.
“I wasn’t planning on playing because I didn’t know how much time I was going to have,” Castillo said. “I was considering I was going to have to sit out.”
With softballs to be purchased, trophies and plaques to be found, sweatshirts to be discovered and other day-to-day league operations to be taken care of, including the main obstacle of finding liability insurance for the league, Castillo was understandably pessimistic about playing softball that season.
He stopped playing softball in Gilroy and Salinas as a result, but as Castillo said this past week, “People were more than willing to help if we needed help.”
Softballs were purchased at Big 5 Sporting Goods, trophies were made at Judy’s Gifts and Awards, and sweatshirts were embroidered at Mandego Apparel. The league even arranged to be on the national insurance policy of the local Kiwanis service club, saving the league approximately $3,000.
Now, according to the Hollister Kiwanis Softball Web site, Castillo wears three hats: that of a co-director, that of an umpire, and that of a player. Co-director Clayton is an umpire and a player as well, and is currently in Texas coaching his daughter’s fastpitch softball team.
“It gets a little busy at times, but its all for a love of the game,” Castillo said.
The Hollister Kiwanis Coed Softball League will kick off its fourth season under Castillo and Clayton on Monday. The league is so popular, in fact, that the maximum 30 teams have already been enrolled, and Castillo has had to make a waiting list for prospective teams.
Clay Lee, community services director for the city, has observed the transition since Castillo and Clayton took over, and says that it has been a rather seamless one.
“It doesn’t happen all that frequently where a group like that steps forward, but they’ve done a wonderful job,” Lee said. “The program really didn’t skip a beat.”
In its first year, the city had helped with maintenance of the fields at Veterans Memorial Park, but since then, while the league has used city equipment, it has taken over maintaining the fields themselves.
Team fees are set at $505 this year, which includes field preparation, lighting fees, umpires and scorekeepers, but with a waiting list of teams, it doesn’t appear anyone is shying away.
“There has not been any headaches,” Castillo said. “It’s been smooth and the teams constantly thank us. I was like, ‘cool.'”
The season begins Monday with a trio of games at Veterans Memorial Park. Games run Monday through Friday, with playoffs starting the week of Sept. 10.
After its inaugural season in 2004 – a season that went smoother than expected, Castillo said – the two co-directors had simply hoped they’d be able to continue running the league in the years to come.
With the help of Kiwanis, the Parks and Recreation Department, and other community members, the two have been able to do just that.
“At first, we didn’t know what to expect,” Castillo said. “But once we got it going, it pretty much ran itself. It was an easy transition.”
Coaches send us your scores. Go to freelancenews.com/submitsurvey and fill out the form with your results. Check out the Free Lance or webnetsystems.com/kiwanis for results of all the league’s action
